An 'Open Ended' Straight Draw

Open ended is the term used for an open ended straight draw, meaning that there are cards on the high and low side of the draw which can make a player the straight. An example of this would be 5 6 7 8 where any 4 or 9 would make a player the straight.

An open ended straight is considered more valuable than an inside straight draw (also known as a gut shot, or belly buster) in which there are more drawing cards to make the straight. A gut shot, or inside straight draw would be a hand like 7 8 9 J where the missing link card is in the middle of the run, in this case the 10. In this particular draw, only a 10 would make the straight which would be four outs.

An open ended straight would have 8 outs to make a straight and is twice as likely to hit. As we know on any straight there can be a high end straight and a low end one. So, if some outs are greater than others, surely we wouldn't just use the number of outs to justify the call? It's an interesting point.

A player needs to take into account which end of the straight they are shooting for. If it is the low end, one would have to think carefully before committing a large portion of his stack chasing a hand that might not be second best. The same goes for any drawing hand where you don't have a draw to the nuts. Of course it isn't an easy decision and can be difficult to judge as you often don't know how strong the hand is until showdown and players turn over their cards. It's therefore important to use your judgment in terms of the hand your hoping to hit.

Chasing down a straight when the board is flushy or paired could land you in hot water.